


When it Boiling Rains it Pours (Jerbo x Edric)

by Chiral_leaf



Series: Owl House romance and action [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Animation, Anxiety, Autism Spectrum, Awkwardness, Disney, Drama & Romance, Edric Blight Needs a Hug, Eventual Romance, First Kiss, High School, Introspection, Kissing, M/M, Magic, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:14:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28669053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chiral_leaf/pseuds/Chiral_leaf
Summary: Jerbo and  Edric have an awkward chance meeting with each other. Despite being from very different backgrounds and differing personalities they make an impact on each other.Planning on regularly releasing  short chapters. Input is welcome, leave comments.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Luz Noceda & Willow Park, Barcus & Jerbo & Viney (The Owl House), Edric Blight/Jerbo
Series: Owl House romance and action [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162754
Comments: 11
Kudos: 32





	1. Boiling Rain

The rain hissed as it fell, steam rising in Jerbo’s face. Hunched under a tree for protection, he wiped the hot water out of his eyes without losing focus. The patch of forest reacted to the sudden boiling storm. A small tree with thick leathery blue leaves seemed unaffected, while a red trout lily folded it’s leave around the flower. A purple fern curled into a tight ball among the leaf litter, while the rain seemed to magically avoid the leaves of a delicate tree with pink leaves and flowers. His warded raincoat was frayed and the sleeves too short, but Jerbo was too busy taking notes to notice the stray searing drops on his skin. “Interesting adaptation,” He mumbled to himself, sketching a plant.

A furry rodent peeked out tentatively from a bush, before it scurried across a clearing, as fast as Its dozens of legs could carry it. Jerbo tracked it with his eyes, trying not to make a sound. The creature jumped from tree to bush, indirectly coming closer and closer. Glancing away to take some notes, he lost track of it. Suddenly, a ball of fur with a mouth full of jagged fan was launching at his face.

Jerbo jumped. Thunk, hitting his head, crashing down. Dazed, he set up slowly. No creature was to be found. When his head cleared, he noticed a raucous noise above him. It was…laughter. In another tree sitting on a branch was a boy holding his belly laughing. Not a green hair on the boy’s head was out of place, a shielding spell kept him dry.

Pursing his lips Jerbo stood up, brushed himself off and rubbed the small lump on his head. He stooped to shield himself from the boiling rain. He made to leave the forest and head back to Hexside academy, pausing below the green haired kid. “Next time account for the boiling rain,” said Jerbo.

“What?” said the boy.

“Your Illusion. You need to take into account how it would react to the boiling rain, and how the rain would interact with the fur. To be realistic,” said Jerbo softly, tone slightly strained. The boy looked at him in confusion. Jerbo stooped to protect his face and made to run for the shelter of the school.

“Wait, you’re that detention track kid, right? What’s your name?” said green hair.

“Jerbo. And I’m multitrack now,” he said pointing to his green and pink uniform.

“I’m Edric.”

Jerbo nodded, “ah, Blight.”

Edric winced at the name. Jerbo pointed to school and ran for shelter. In the school Jerbo dried off and rubbed some healing salve on his face and arms. Viney and Barcus had made him keep some because he was “absentminded and would probably die during an experiment or wandering in the woods”. It was an exaggeration, he was pretty sure, but not inherently wrong. He glanced out the window and thought he could make out a golden spell shield glimmering deep in the woods, but through the boiling rain it could have been an illusion of the light or mind. Confused, he sighed and slumped against the wall rubbing the top of his head through his moist brown hair.


	2. Flying Burgers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Typical lunch at Hexside Academy.
> 
> Edric and Jerbo have lunch with their friends, respectively.

Edric wiggled his finger at his beast burger, and with a glow it began to fly around his head in complex circular orbits. He tried to take bites out of it, jerking his head after it but missing.

“Stop playing with your food,” said Emira sitting beside him.

“You sound like Mom, or Mittens,” whined Edric. Both burst out laughing. Edric leaned forward while laughing and the burger hit him across the face, smearing it with tomato blood.

“Edric, are you playing with your food?” said Amity sternly, walking across the cafeteria 15 ft away.

“You’re right, she does” said Emira doubled over again with laughter.

Amity blushed, unsure what she had done, but aware she was the target.

Across the cafeteria Jerbo carried a tray full of food, large shoulders slouched, feet slightly dragging as he walked quickly. He glanced across the cafeteria and noticed a familiar face, but the alabaster face had red smears on it. And was that a beast burger spinning wildly around his head? He stared trying to understand what he was seeing, but caught Edric’s eye and turned away quickly, continuing to walk.

Suddenly Edric was blushing and wiping his face on his sleeve. His sister’s stopped glaring at each other to glance at him. “Um, Mittens, do you know anything about that tall kid? I pranked his a little the other day.”

“I think he’s your age. Why do you think I would know him?” said Amity.

“Well, you have started hanging out with the weirdo’s,” said Emira with a wink.

“Luz isn’t a weird,” said Amity.

“I never said Luz. Me thinks, the lady doth protest too much,” she said with a smirk.

Amity turned bright red. Trying to changed the subject she said,” That’s Jerbo. Luz is friends with him and the other multi-track kids. I don’t know much about him. Studies plants and abominations, I think. I’ve heard he’s…”

“Weird?” cut in Emira, still amusing herself.

“Eh, perhaps,” Amity conceded. “Maybe focused and soft spoken,” she said diplomatically.

“Is hanging out with a human making you soft, mittens?” said Edric.

“We… We aren’t really hanging out. And I’m not soft. You two maybe just need to try to get to know people instead of pranking them,” said Amity, cheeks flushed.

“Not weird and not a hanging out? You really do protest too much,” said Emira.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Amity.

“Oh, hey Luz,” said Edric, with a wave and a smile.

Amity froze and her faces blushed deep red.

“Oh, never mind. It was just my imagination,” Said Ed. He and Emira began laugh heartily again, clutching their sides.

Amity’s face turned deeper tomato red, her face contorted in anger, her breath held. She motioned a finger and the burger still wobbling unsteadily through the air slammed hard into her brothers face, knocking him off his feet.

Across the cafeteria in a corner, Jerbo ate his lunch with Viney and Barcus. He kept glancing back across the cafeteria. Jerbo looked back to the slender green haired teen slammed in the face by a burger and fell sliding across the with a smear of sauce and pickles. Jerbo laughed loudly with a full throated laugh, blushing and hunching his head and shoulder when head turned his way.

“Who was that?” Viney asked, tearing at her food.

“One of the Blights. Edric, I think,” said Jerbo. “Looks like he fell, and a burger related incident. I’m sure he deserves it.” Viney and Barcus glanced and their normally kind friend. Barcus, barked out a question.

“Oh, the other day I had a strange incident with him. He pranked me,” said Jerbo, rubbing his head.

Barcus barked a question again, fixing his glasses with his paws.

“From what I hear the fact that he pranked me isn’t unusual. But the odd thing was that it was out in the forest in the middle of a boiling rain storm.”

Viney tuggd lightly at the fishhook in her ear in concentration. “That is a bit strange. Not that you were there, but that that anyone with common sense would be out there.”

“I had a protective raincoat,” Protested Jerbo. Viney glanced at his red hands and sighed.

Barcus barked and howled.

“No, there’s no guarantee he has common sense,” Said Jerbo. “What do y’all know about the Blights?”

“You mean besides being privileged, narcissistic, troublemakers, though admittedly hot ones?” said Viney. “Nothing, I’m not exactly on their social level.”

Jerbo nodded in agreement. “What about his aura, Barcus?”

Bark, ruff, bark. Barcus shook his head and his fur and ears flopped around.

“I know it’s not completely ethical… but I’m curious. When has ethics stopped you from gazing in the depth of the unknown or searching for truth,” said Jerbo.

Bark, ruf ruf bark.

“Hmm, fun and bright with lots of potential, but obscured with traces of smoke, pain, and fear, like a large firework display? Interesting,” said Jerbo.

“What about the other two? Said Viney.

Bark bark rrruff

“He said he’s not Penstagram or a dating network on the scrolls,” said Jerbo with a laugh, then blushed when realized the implication. Viney was also blushing. They continued to eat their lunches as the din of the school cafeteria roared around them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ch 3 will be very soon.
> 
> Please leave input and comments.
> 
> The indentation and formatting never carries over perfectly from Word.


	3. Grom night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Grom night.

“Hey, Jerbo,” said Luz excitedly., as she passed in the hall. “Are you or the gang going to be a at Grom?”  
“No,” said Jerbo, surprised. “I don’t think so. We haven’t really been welcome at most school functions until recently. I don’t think I’d be comfortable.”  
“Oh,” said Luz, sounding disappointed. “I was hoping you guys would be there. I’m going to be Grom Queen.”  
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I thought Amity got chosen.”  
“Oh, she did, but I volunteered instead.”  
“What? Why would you do that,” said Jerbo, eyes wide. “I’d probably have an anxiety attack… in front of the whole school. Facing my fears…” He gulped.  
“I… I wanted to, and to help a friend. Why what would your fear be?”  
“The least existential answer would probably simply being watched and judged by so many people, so the Grom monster wouldn’t have to add much. Maybe spiders,” said Jerbo, avoiding eye contact.  
“Yeah, I’m not a fan of spiders either,” Luz said with a shiver. “Spider buddies, high five!”  
Jerbo returned the high five, confused with the misplaced enthusiasm. “Well, good luck. Should we try to come?  
“No, it’s alright. It’s late to try to get fancy dress clothes and everything.”  
“Are you going with anyone?” said Jerbo.  
“Not with with anyone, but Gus, willow, king, and Amity are all going. And Eda’s coming as a chaperone. And the blight twins have dates, I’ll bet they’ll be super cute.”  
“Oh really?” said Jerbo looking at the floor, wringing his hands. “That sounds fun. Good luck, if you fail the town will be trapped in a waking nightmare, an existential hellscape of fear where we don’t know what’s real and what’s the manifestation of our subconscious. I’m sure you’ll do fine.” He gave her an awkward smile trying and failing to be genuinely encouraging. “Viney and I will be at school working on special projects so try not to turn it into a nightmare hellscape,” then he gave her two thumbs up.

Jerbo cut red and white spotted leaf buds off of a large plant, carefully dipping them in potion then in pots of soil. He could hear loud music coming from the gymnasium. He turned his head as he heard a crowd chanting in the distance. One of the buds opened revealing sharp teeth, and clamped down on his finger.  
“Titan’s balls,” he cursed and yanked his hand away, blood dripped onto the brick greenhouse floor. He blushed and looked around, when he realized what he’d said. He pulled a first aid kit from one of the tool benches. While cleaning out the wound with a pink potion, he could hear voices approaching. “Not again.” He muttered under his breath.  
Holding his finger in a cloth, he walked to the greenhouse door and opened it. “I’m sorry, the greenhouse and other school facilities are not available during Grom, please return to the gymnasium,” said Jerbo, failing to completely hide his frustration.  
“Come on, we just wanted to see the plants and animals,” said a slightly familiar voice, from the darkness. Two figures came closer.  
“I’m… I’m sorry. No other students are allowed in the greenhouse tonight. If you aren’t in the plant coven you can make reservations for a tour some other time,” said Jerbo.  
As they walked into the light, he noticed the bright green hair. It was Edric and Emira the blight twins, wearing a bright yellow silk shirt with a grey jacket draped over his shoulder and her with a yellow silk dress. Jerbo stared at them in their fancy outfits longer than he should have. “Uhmm..,” he tried to say something.  
“Come on, can’t you give us a tour now,” they said in perfect unison. Jerbo found it simultaneously creepy and enticing. “We just want to see the plant and animals nothing else.”

“I shouldn’t, and I could only show you the greenhouse. Viney is guarding the stables, er working on a school project,” said Jerbo.  
“Oooh, what is she guarding? Some rare artifact or animal,” said Emira.  
Jerbo sighed. “No, she is guarding the same things I am. We were asked by faculty to work on projects and keep people out. We’re guarding the plant and animal collections from pranksters,” he said glaring at them. “Though I’m pretty sure the biggest concern is students sneaking into the greenhouse or buildings and engaging in certain traditional Grom night activities.” Jerbo blushed deep red and his large ears turned crimson.  
The twins both smirked, then Edric’s face changed suddenly, growing serious. “Are you ok?” said Edric.  
“I’m fine,” said Jerbo. “Just blushing.”  
“No, I mean your hand,” he said and pointed down.  
Jerbo looked down to see the cloth in his hand had turned mostly red and was dripping blood onto the floor. He had forgotten all about it. “Oh, it’s nothing. I cut myself on a plant. I have a first aid kit.” Jerbo walked back inside to the bench with the kit.  
Edric followed him back inside. “Here, let me help.” He walked up beside Jerbo and started going through the kit. Emira followed him inside.  
Now that they were all in the light, Jerbo took a good look at them. Their outfits were absolutely stunning, but there faces not as flawless as he had imagined in the dark. Their pale skin was reddish and puffy around their eyes, with a crust under their noses. Their hair was still brilliant green and even looked styled, much of it had been pulled out of place. Suddenly, he gasped in pain and turned to see Edric had poured a green potion on his hand.  
“That should stop the bleeding,” said Edric. “Let me bandage it for you.” He gently grabbed Jerbo’s hand to begin to wrap it in bandages. The hands were large and the fingers long, small red welts covered the hands, but competed for space with, small white scars, red scars, bumps, rough patches, and the fresh wound, now clean and visible. “Are your hands ok?” he asked.  
“Yeah, the bite isn’t that bad,” said Jerbo.  
“Was all that from the bite?”  
“Oh, you mean all of it,” said Jerbo, waving his free hand. “No, it’s from boiling rain, cuts, scraps, plant spines, thorns, plant … teeth, dirt, potion burns, etcetera. I use my hands a lot.” Edric had begin to wrap bandages with, and Jerbo noticed they were smaller, smooth, and pale. “No fair, your hands are so smooth and perfect.”  
Edric jerked his hands in surprise and they brushed Jerbo’s hand as he wrapped the bandage. Jerbo blushed and had to glance away.  
Emira walked to the door. “I’m going to see if I can get a tour of the stables and see some animals. Or failing that see if can partake in some traditional Grom night activities.” She winked.  
“Tha...Thank you,” said Jerbo, as Edric finished wrapping the hand. He looked at the decent first aid job. “So, you’ve done first aid before?”  
“Yeah, it helps keeping thing from teachers and parents when you can fix your own mistakes.”  
Jerbo glanced at him and raised an eyebrow.  
Edric just smirked at him. “How about that greenhouse tour now?”  
“I might as well, as a thank you. Not having fun at Grom?” asked Jerbo, cautiously.  
“What good is some stuffy dance?”  
“Fair enough. And a magic fight with an ancient monster?”  
“Eh, overrated. I’m sure Luz is fine. Probably. I think maybe it was still going on,” said Edric.  
“I wouldn’t have expected you to miss that. Seems up your alley.”  
“What? Violence? Competition? A chance for someone to embarrass themselves? You might be right, but Luz is a friend and I wasn’t in the mood. Not your thing?”  
“The dance maybe I could get behind if I had a reason. But seeing someone suffer doesn’t bring me enjoyment.” Guiltily remembering the cafeteria incident, he added “Usually.” “Though, I do like seeing monsters and plants.”  
Suddenly hissing came from the other side of the greenhouse. The plant cutting still covered in blood, had grown 5 times bigger. Blood covered teeth gnashed together excitedly, or maybe they were technically spines. “Titan’s ba…”Jerbo stopped himself. “It’s tasted blood. We have to kill it. It will want more now.  
Edric raised a finger at it.  
“No, it’s immune to some magic. Weed killer potion is a safer bet. Black bottle, top shelf.  
Edric looked for it on the shelf, then glared at Jerbo. “I’ll just be sure to get that.”  
“Great,” said Jerbo, before feeling something heavy jump on his back.  
“I was being sarcastic,” said Edric, clinging to Jerbo’s back. “Not everyone is your height, big guy.” He reached up with a free hand to grab the black bottle, the other wrapped tightly around Jerbo’s shoulders.  
Jerbo walked over to the bloodthirsty plant, careful to keep a safe distance. “Carefully pour half a cup on it. We should use safety gear and a spray bottle, but we’re in a hurry.” Edric dumped a little of the potion on the plant, mostly missing the floor. The plant turned black and shriveled.  
“Now steed, give me my tour of the greenhouse,” said Edric, lightly kicking into Jerbo’s side. “Yah.”  
“Yes, my lord,” said Jerbo, with a chuckle. “I’m not making Horse noises though.”  
“So, you’re saying neigh?” said Edric smirking.  
“Nay. No puns either, my lord.” Jerbo began to walk around the large old greenhouse with Edric on his back. Jerbo walked along the greenhouse, pointing as he talked. Flower pots of all sizes lined the floor. They brushed by pink leaves with long jagged spines, passed small trees with blue and green leaves, sniffed white flowers with deep spicy fragrance, and dodged hooked thorns.  
“If you chew the leaves of that one it causes temporary paralysis, without killing the person,” said Jerbo pointing.  
“Can…”  
“No, you absolutely cannot have some,” Jerbo cut him off. “I’m not explaining to Bump how someone was paralyzed as a prank.”  
“pfft… nerd.”  
“Do you want me pulling pranks? If I put seeds of that plant over there in your food it would be hilarious. You’d sprout cute orange and black flowers all over your skin… until they started to fruit and sucked you dry of energy, water, and nutrients. You’d be a mummified husk, but covered in bright pink fruit. Absolutely hilarious,” Jerbo said dryly.  
“That’s metal, but remind me not to get on your bad side.”  
Jerbo raised an eyebrow, wondering if the dry sarcasm was lost on Edric. He spotted a different plant and plucked some fruit off it, raising it above his head. “Here try this.”  
“I’m not sure if I should?” Edric said hesitantly.  
“It’s not a poison, parasite, aphrodisiac, or laxative. None of those would be great for me with you on my back.”  
Edric grabbed it and tossed it into his mouth. “It tastes like… purple. Not the flavor but the actual color. I can see it… or am I tasting it?”  
“Yeah, we call that one purple haze.”  
“Does that mean you’d trick me if I wasn’t on your back?”  
“Why don’t you get down and find out?” said Jerbo.  
“It might be safer up here,” said Edric.  
“No, seriously. You’re smaller than me, but even you get heavy after a while.”  
“Oh,” said Edric climbing down. “Pretty comfortable, good view.”  
“Well, be sure to give me a good review on Pentstagram,” Jerbo joked.  
“Four stars, comfy but hard to turn off educational narration mode.”  
“Hey… well that’s actually fair,” Jerbo said with a shrug. “Comfy, huh?”

“Edric, Edric. Come on,” came yelling from outside, muffled through the brick and glass. “Something happened at Grom with Mittens and Luz. We need to go check on them.”

“Oh that’s, Em. I need to go.” Edric grabbed Jerbo’s hand and looked at it. “Be careful with your hands.”  
Jerbo nodded, his face reddening.  
“Thanks for the tour, I’m feeling better,” said Edric with a small smile. Then he paused in thought and the smile slipped away. “Later, nerd,” he said with a wave and slipped out the greenhouse door.  
Jerbo just waved, and said “Bye” softly. He checked the time on his scroll and still need to stay in the greenhouse for another forty minutes. He began to tend the plants, somewhat confused by his evening.


	4. Bark and Bite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After grom Jerbo and Edric are trying to figure out how they feel. This results in some awkaward hijinks.

Jerbo walked quickly down the hallway, eyes on the tiled floor. He could see over the majority of the other students, but it was more comfortable looking down and easier to dodge the crowds of people. He was more comfortable using the secret passages to get around, but Principal Bump had made them agree to ‘Use the Hallways like everyone else, if you want to take classes like everyone else’.  
The people in front of him slowed down to talk to each other and at his quick pace he had to swivel sideways to avoid a collision. He avoided the crowd, but his back brushed someone else. “Sorry,” he said softly, a bit curt. He kept walking, but glanced back. With surprise he noticed bright green. Was it Edric?, he thought. His chest tightened in shyness. He passed Edric a few times but he was too shy to say anything. He’d actually kind of enjoyed giving the popular boy a tour, but that didn’t mean he’d want him to talk to him.   
They turned around and the pale face was aa little too feminine. A mix of relief and disappointment hit him in the gut when he realized it was Emira, the twin sister.   
“Oh, it’s plant boy,” Emira said in recognition. “I guess the idiot enjoyed his tour. He’s reading plant books of all things. Probably going to accidently poison someone during a prank. But it’s something to keep his attention. Took being stood up for Grom worse than I did.”  
“Oh… well that’s good,” said Jerbo softly, but eyes wide. He’d thought it was odd they weren’t with their dates and they had seemed upset, but he hadn’t known for sure. Strange that it even happened to popular kids. Stranger still that Edric was reading about plants. Maybe he had enjoyed it? Or maybe he was going to poison all the plants in the Greenhouse as a prank. He felt some happiness at the first thought, followed by a painful tightness in his gut with the second. The whole scenario was unlikely, and he tried unsuccessfully to push the idea and the resulting anxiety away.   
“Later. Say Hi to your friend for me. Girl is thic,” she said with a smirk, showing off her sharp canines. Jerbo wasn’t quite sure what that meant and just nodded. It didn’t seem like an insult in the context, but he wasn’t likely to repeat it.

Jerbo met Viney outside of the cafeteria. “Oh, I never asked you about grom night,” he said. “Did you run into Emira at the stables? She said Hi, I think.”  
“Yeah, I talked to her at the stables,” Viney said with a blush. “That girl is a flirt, but she has the looks to back it up. Probably a man eater, and a woman eater for that matter.” The red in her face deepened.  
“I can believe that,” he said remembering her smirk. “Her brother is surprisingly nice though, considering. He helped me bandage up my hand, after a plant bite.”  
“Another injury? It has been weeks and you still have some red scarring on your hands from the rain, and now new cuts and scars…” said Viney. “You need to be more careful. But keep using the medicine I gave you.” Barcus had joined them and also looked at Jerbo’s hands in concern. He wagged his fluffy tale and sniffed in emphasis.  
“I can’t very well study plant adaptations to the boiling rain not during the boiling rain, can I?” said Jerbo.  
Barcus barked in agreement.   
“Boys,” said Viney, rolling her eyes.  
Barcus licked Jerbo’s hand. Jerbo pulled his hand away and laughed. “I don’t think your spit is going to heal the scars any faster. With the medicine it should only be another week or so any way.”  
Barcus licked his hand again, then barked a few times. Jerbo turned to look at Barcus confused. He hadn’t understood barkus, it just sounded like barking.  
“What are you doing later, Barcus?  
Barcus barked again, but again Jerbo didn’t understand him.  
“Are you ok Barcus?” said Jerbo.  
Barcus just nodded and quickly headed for the hallway. Concerned, Jerbo Followed him, but when He got to the hallway it was empty except for a green haired boy leaning casually against the wall, but his legs were crossed awkwardly.   
“Uh, Edric, have you seen Barcus?” said Jerbo, the surprise and intrigue overpowering his shyness.  
“Oh, the dog kid. No,” Edric shook his head. “Um, how are your hands? And I guess your head?”  
“My head?” Jerbo asked, rubbing his head. “Oh, from the forest. Yeah, I’m fine, that’s been a while. Wait, did you not realize I was the same person from the forest? Do you make a habit of pranking people during boiling storms?”  
“Well one time I left Mittens…” Edric trailed off, not making eye contact. His head slumped in guilt. Then shook his head. “I did after we talked a little in the greenhouse, but I didn’t want to bring it up.”  
“But thanks for helping me with my hands. They’re doing better. Oh, and again details. Observation is vital to natural magics, but I assume also illusion. I can understand what Barcus says, even if you can’t,” said Jerbo. “And I’m not going to ask about the licking. But just because he’s canine doesn’t mean he licks people. Though I suppose some people are into that.”   
Edric blushed and pulled his arms across his waist. “Talk to you later,” Edric said meekly, his face tomato red.  
“Yeah, talk to you later,” said Jerbo hopefully. He headed back to Viney, unsurprised to see her talking to Barcus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to go into their heads more in this chapter, to avoid awkard dialogue. Hopely it works ok.
> 
> Let me know what you think.


	5. Through the bookshelves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jerbo sees a cute stranger while studying in the library.

Jerbo pulled another ancient tome from the bookshelf and added it to his stack. He stabilized the large stack against his chin and slowly carried them to his table. He opened the embossed vellum cover to reveal rich illustrations of leaves and fruits. He jotted down some notes quickly and flipped the page. In the quiet of the library stacks he could hear the gentle rustle of the thick pages, like a soft breeze in a forest. A soft echo of steps broke the rhythm, causing Jerbo to glance up suddenly, his ancient instincts cautious and weary of predators. Framed through numerous bookshelves and many angles he caught a brief glimpse of a face, that triggered a different set of animal instincts. He blushed and gulped, as his body tingled. He hadn’t gotten a good look, but a pair of thick glasses framed a pale face with sharp cheek bones. A pretty face that exuded hidden intelligence. It was definitely his type. But the face was lost behind the shelves just as suddenly.

Among the solitude of the stacks amid the rich scent of old paper it was awkward to run into other people, but his curiosity got the better of him. Jerbo began to search the shelves for a non-existent book, in the direction he’d heard them head. Eventually he found someone sitting at a desk against the wall with a stack of books. They had dark green hair, but he couldn’t get a good look at the face. Peaking around the desk might be obvious, so he tried the direct approach.

“Reading anything interesting,” asked Jerbo softly.

“Probably not to you. Just some old treatises on magical plants and botany,” said the figure without turning around.

“Actually, I find that very interesting. It’s why I was in this section.”

The figure turned around quickly, a look of surprise on their face. Jerbo soon shared the same look as he realized it was Edric. Pale face, prominent cheek bones, framed by a heavy pair of glasses, and there was the prominent mole and vibrant green hair. It must be Edric then. Now he could place the voice, but it was both more serious and less controlled when he’d heard it before. But he remembered why he’d chased after that brief glimpse of face. Very pretty face, but the glasses broke up the features so you could take them in individually. The intelligent eyes and sad smile weren’t lost behind a false façade. Jerbo knew he might be reading too much into it, handsome nerds in glasses probably just his type.

“I really like the glasses,” said Jerbo sincerely.

Edric turned tomato red, while feeling at his face frantically. He hastily turned around mumbling to himself. For a minute Jerbo stood there, wondering if Edric was just going to ignore him until he went away. Jerbo thought maybe he heard ‘a blight is perfect’ being mumbled, but he wasn’t sure. After some faint glowing Edric finally turned back around.

“I don’t wear glasses,” said Edric forcefully. Indeed, there were no glasses now visible.

“Well, then maybe I just thought I saw them, but I thought they looked good on you. But I do like the way your hair presses flat just above your ears in neat bands, while the rest is wavy. I don’t know how you manage that,” Jerbo said with a wink. He was blushing, and he wanted to run away, but it was too much fun not to tease Edric.

Edric was silent, but his pale cheeks turned red. He pressed against his head between his eye and the top of his ear. There was the faint creak of glass on metal.

Jerbo laughed and pressed his fingers between his eyes and ears. “Now you’re really giving yourself away.”

Edric sighed and snapped his fingers. The glasses reappeared on his face. “I don’t like wearing glasses,” he said.

Jerbo shook his head, “They look good on you,” he said, forgetting his shyness again. He pointed to the piles of books,” I didn’t know you like plants.”

“I don’t,” said Edric. “I mean I do, but I didn’t know until your greenhouse tour. I find the forest relaxing, but don’t usually think about the plants. Thank you for the tour, it helped a lot.”

“I um… I was happy to. I enjoyed giving it. I’m sorry that happened to you two. I hope you’re doing alright.”

“What happened?” said Ed defensively.

“Being stood u… umm, no. I mean,” said Jerbo, panicked.

“Ah, so you heard the rumors too?”

“No. well kinda, but Emira told me.”

“Well, that does sound plausible. She like to gossip and meddle, even if it’s also about her,” Edric sighed.

“Ah, so you did get stood up. I’m sorry. Do you know why?” Jerbo asked softly.

“No,” Edric shook his head. “They just didn’t show up.”

“Did… did they know it wasn’t a prank?” asked Jerbo.

“What do you…”

“I mean if someone popular were to ask me on a date, I would think there was a good chance they were pranking me, especially if…,” Jerbo hestitated.

“They had a history of pulling pranks,” Edric finished, voice soft and hollow. “Well, Emira did ask her date out so they might have thought it was a prank, but um mine asked me, so why… why would…”

“I’m not great with people, I couldn’t guess their motivations… but did you maybe pull a prank on them before?” asked Jerbo.

“Oh, yeah. It was a great one, so good,” Edric chuckled. “So, I was kind of surprised when they asked me to Grom, but they’re pretty cute so I said yes.”

“And you didn’t think it might be a revenge prank?”

“That would be a cruel prank, besides I’m a great catch for a grom date,” said Edric, waving a hand over the fabulousness that was himself.

Jerbo just raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. “Because Teenagers never pull cruel pranks,” he said, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“I concede I may have been pranked, … maybe. But not that people are afraid of me and Emi, we’re fun. I mean, you wouldn’t be afraid to hang out with me, right?”

“I mean, you did prank me,” said Jerbo.

“Oh… right. But that was hardly a prank, just a little illusion. But you would still hang out with me, right?”

“Umm… I, yeah. I would.”

“Great, so when do you want to hang out?”

“Oh. You mean you actually want to hang out with me?” Jerbo said, blushing, then hesitated. “I don’t know…”.

“Oh, come on. Meet me tomorrow night at the palace garden at 11.”

“The palace garden… late at night? Are you sure you aren’t pranking me? …It has less impact if I know I’m going to be pranked. There...”

“Calm down. I’m not going to prank you,” said Edric with a sly grin.

“And you dragging me into performing some prank?”

Edric paused and his face reddened. “N…No. There are no pranks involved

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you think.  
> Is the pacing too slow?  
> Any suggestions?


	6. Midnight in the garden of good… company

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jerbo and Edric meet up to hang out in the middle of the night at the Emperors garden... what could go wrong?

Jerbo climbed over the side of the ancient stone wall, while constantly look over his shoulders. He’d never trespassed before, and he was struggling to push down the anxiety and guilt. Busy physically watching for invisible spies and mentally watching an internal struggle he didn’t was his large feet and stumbled on the last few feet down. He awkwardly landed, but kept from falling. Only to notice some pink petals sticking out from under his boot. He hastily pulled back his boot, to reveal a crushed plant. He bent over and tried to straighten it, and fluff out the leaves. “I’m sorry, little guy,” he whispered. “Ow,” He exclaimed, pulling back his finger. Now he noticed the flower had little blood covered teeth. “I probably deserve that,” he whispered.  
After a few minutes he managed to find Edric by the stream they agreed to meet at. It was a small relief, if this was a prank it wasn’t the kind where the other person never showed up.  
When he got to Edric the greened haired teen smiled, pale skin radiant in the starlight. He held out a flower to Jerbo. Jerbo looked at it, confused. It wasn’t normal to give flowers when you were hanging out, was it? Not unless he was more out touch than he thought. Well, it would be rude not to take it.   
Jerbo leaned to look at it. It was beautiful. A rose with a lavender and black checker pattern. He took it from Edric, and felt a sharp sting. Only then did he notice the black thorny stem. Oh no! A hex rose. So, it was a prank! He began to feel sleepy. The typical side effect was endless slumber. What was the cure again? True loves kiss? Water from a blessed spring? A carefully crafted antidote? It probably depended on the variety of rose… But then everything went dark.  
But then he opened his eyes. No pain, no slumber. Edric was still just standing there watching him. Then the rose just vanished. What? What just happened? The he realized it was illusion. So, it was a prank just not as serious a one as he originally thought. So that was why Edric had been researching plants.  
But Edric didn’t laugh, he just grinned and said, “Details”, and proudly gave a thumbs up.  
Jerbo froze in confusion. He’d enjoyed giving Edric the greenhouse tour, he was fun. He wanted to give him a chance. It wasn’t fair to judge Edric based on rumors, so he’d forced himself to come. 

“That was good right?” said Edric.  
So, it was a prank then, thought Jerbo. Maybe he needed to go. If it was just going to be a night of getting pranked it definitely wasn’t worth the risk of getting in trouble. The finale of the night would probably be Edric magically gluing him to something, and leaving him to be caught by the palace guards. 

“I made sure to petal movement right and made sure to pair it with pain and sleeping spells. I think I nailed the realism,” said Edric excitedly. Another hexrose appeared in his hand and he waved it around.   
Jerbo wasn’t really listening, at least not to anything but the anxious voices in his head. “I think I need to go,” he said.   
Edric’s smile and the flower disappeared simultaneously. “What? No, we haven’t hung out yet. That wasn’t the best part.”  
“I’m not really comfortable with pranks,” said Jerbo bitterly. “Pulling them or as is usually the case being the recipient. It might come as a surprise, but somehow as the quiet awkward kid this isn’t my first time being pranked,” said Jerbo, voice dripping with pain and sarcasm.   
“I’m not going to pull any pranks on you, but Come on, pranks don’t hurt anybody,” said Edric, confused, but instinctively defensive.  
“That’s not really true. If I paint a giant wang on the side of someone’s house, it isn’t harmless,” said Jerbo.  
“That’s the first thing that pops into your mind …Interesting,” said Edric with a smirk.  
Jerbo blushed, but continued. “Even if you ignore any rules or laws, from a utilitarian perspective there is a cost. Let’s say drawing it brings me an hour of enjoyment. But it might cost the owner days of stress, hours of labor for removal, and potentially resources or money. The cost outweighs the benefits.”  
“You mean You’d feel guilty?”  
“No. Well, yes, personally I would, but that’s irrelevant. Objectively, the societal cost is higher than any benefit,”  
“So, it’s wrong for me to pull pranks?” Edric said with a half-smile, somewhere between annoyed and amused.  
“That’s not what I said. A prank can be a powerful tool to spread enjoyment, or make a moral or political message. It can be designed where any cost is less than the benefits, at least in theory.”  
“You actually weigh things out like that and perform mental moral and utilitarian cost benefit analysis before you do things?  
“…Usually, though I can be selfish, like anyone. Um, do most people not?” Jerbo said, looking and the ground and wringing his hands. “I tend to analyze and over analyze everything.”  
Edric gave a genuine smile and put his hand on Jerbo’s shoulder. “You are a very strange person.” Jerbo started to pull away. “That’s not a bad thing.”  
Jerbo wasn’t sure how to take that but continuing with logical debate was the most comfortable course of action. “Strangeness isn’t really a moral quality, rather a deviation from the perceived average of what is typical, which isn’t the true representation anyway since most people hide quite a bit. People wear masks. Though I admit by most definition I might be considered strange, and with strangeness being comparable to trait diversity is actually part of my likely value.”  
“I suppose we do all where masks,” said Edric regretfully. “Some more than others. But then apparently some people overanalyze everything so much it confuses everyone else so they can just hide behind that instead,” his tone becoming more cheerful.  
Jerbo wasn’t sure what to say. He was pretty sure that was a jab at him, but didn’t seem at all malicious. Jerbo was never great at understanding people, but Edric was particularly hard to read… except for when he wasn’t.  
“I actually get it,” said Edric. “If only more people were analytical and thoughtful, not cold and calculating like my par…” He shook his head, ending the thought and his frown. With practiced ease he switched to a smile. “Though now I’m curious, what would a proper prank look? With proper cost benefit analysis?”  
“Hmmm, that’s tough. I’d have to give it some thought and do some research,” said Jerbo, resting his chin in his hand.  
“I don’t want a research paper, professor,” said Edric, stick his tongue out. “I want you to show me. We’re in a public place.” He waved his pale hand around them.  
“I don’t really…” protested Jerbo.  
“Make due with what’s available, this isn’t a test. I just want to see if it can be done,” said Edric.  
Jerbo just nodded. He knew he was going to regret this, but he wanted to make a point. He stood thinking for a while then being walking around the garden. There were flashes of magic going on and pieces of plant here and there. Edric just silently watched.  
Finally, Jerbo had Edric follow him. “This is the emperor’s fragrance garden,” pointing to a particularly tidy part of the garden.   
Edric took a deep breath. “Mmm, that smells good. Smells like herbs, flowers, umm like perfume.”  
“Exactly, but I don’t think that’s inclusive enough to be a fragrance garden, more like a good fragrance garden. So, I’m going to change that.” He waved his finger and plant abominations began to march toward them from round the garden. “Protesting the Emperors ban on both mixing magic and being weird might also come into play,” Jerbo said with a shrug.  
The abominations set themselves into the ground throughout the fragrance garden. The sludge bodies dissolved away and the plants began to grow, and many began to flower.  
“Titan’s wind, what is that smell?” asked Edric. “I’m going to gag.” He held his nose.  
“Flower make smells to attract pollinators. Many pollinators like waspbees are attracted to sweet smells. But plants can also use attract pollinators that like smelly things, like carrion beetles, flies, fleshbats, demonbirds ecetera, said Jerbo.  
“So, you’ve just added more fragrant plants to the fragrant garden. It just happens to be the fragrances of fecal matter, rotting flesh, and garbage. Very clever. I don’t know how well a prank works if it requires a lecture from professor Jerbo, but very clever,” said Edric, nodding.  
“And after a week the abominations will take the plants back where they belong, so the gardener won’t have extra work,” said Jerbo as he began to pick up plant labels from a pile and put them on the right plants.  
“What are you doing,” said Edric.  
“Proper labeling and record keeping is very important for a garden,” said Jerbo. “But I still hope Emperor Belos gags on his morning walk. And combining plant magic and abomination magic made it possible.”  
Edric smiled and shook his head. “You are something else. Though I don’t think that display is going to change his mind.”  
“I think you’re probably right. And I’m about to have a panic attack from breaking so many rules. Some of us aren’t practiced at it. Did you have a flashier prank planned? Or umm… was I the target,” asked Jerbo.  
“Actually….,” said Edric, not meeting his gaze. “I didn’t mean for there to be any pranking tonight. But you were worried about it, and I couldn’t resist teasing you.”  
“What about the hexrose?” asked Jerbo.  
“That wasn’t a prank… I wanted to show off my illusion skill…and give you a flower…,” his voice fading to almost inaudible.  
“Wait, then what did we come here for?” asked Jerbo.  
Edric beckoned for him to follow. After a few minutes’ walk they came to a massive old gnarled tree. Edric walked around it for a few minutes, holding up his fingers and looking at the sky. He pulled out some papers from his pockets and kept checking them. Edric then took a while to cast a spell. It was probably illusion, but he didn’t notice anything different. Maybe… was the moon brighter? Hadn’t it been a new moon?   
Edric pointed at the tree. “That’s the moon olive. It only blooms every 66 years on a full moon, when the position is just right. But I didn’t want to wait that long. If my astronomical calculations are right and my illusion detailed enough hopefully this will work.” He pointed to the large full moon hanging in the sky.  
Long dormant buds on the gnarled tree began to open, glowing with a blue light. The glowing flowers detached from the tree and flew around, pollinating each other. Thousands and thousands flew around creating an elaborate light show. After 20 minutes they began to land back on the tree.  
“That was amazing,” said Jerbo, smiling. “You actually figured out how to do that?”  
“Don’t sound so surprised. I’m not actually an Idiot.,” said Edric.  
Jerbo began to protest, but Edric started laughing. “I just play one in the theater…, and school, and sometimes at home. Most of the time really,” said Edric sticking his tongue out at Jerbo.  
“Wait, what if it hadn’t worked?”  
“Oh, I would have just Illusioned it blooming and said it worked. As long as I got enough of the details right you would have never known the difference. But failing that I’d have just played an idiot,” said Edric, with a salute.  
Jerbo laughed genuinely, a deep soft chuckle that ended high and vibrant. He smiled, then paused. “So, is giving people flowers, teasing them, then using math and magic to create a beautiful but harmless light show how you usually hang out with people?” asked Jerbo, voice wistful.

Edric didn’t answer immediately and stared at the sky. “How are your hands doing?”  
Jerbo was taken aback by the switch in topic, but held out his hand anyway. “Umm, good, they’ve pretty much fully healed, though I have some new wounds.”  
Edric took them in his pale hands and looked at them. “Good. I like your hands. They’re real. I like that you’re real.”  
“Umm, have you had an illusory boyfriend? Girlfriend? Friend? I meant friend.”  
Edric paused, taken aback. “How… no, of course not.”  
“You did? Didn’t you? What did they look like?”  
“I’m not showing you. … I mean I didn’t have one.”  
“I’m definitely going to have to ask Emira later, but what do you mean “I’m real”?”  
Edric grabbed Jerbo’s hand, and rubbed over the scars and bumps. “You are real, with all your imperfections. You aren’t an illusion and you aren’t hiding behind one.” Edric snapped his fingers and his glasses became visible. “And maybe you’re okay with mine.” He pulled Jerbo’s hands closer and held them tighter.  
Jerbo leaned forward and kissed Edric on the lips, still holding his hands. Jerbo tried to lean in deeper, but Edric jerked back. Jerbo jerked back his hands. “I’m sorry… I began to think this was actually a date… I wasn’t sure. With the flowers and romantic lights, and the hand holding. Please don’t hate me.” Jerbo walked backward as he rambled and began to turn and run.

Edric grabbed his hand. “No, you’re right. I was hoping it was a date. I didn’t know if I was too subtle or too overt. I was just surprised. I figured you were just being nice; I didn’t think you actually liked me.  
Jerbo nodded. “I … I think I do like you. But I don’t know you very well.”  
“Well, I think this is a good place to start,” said Edric, smirking while he pulled the larger teen toward himself. He pushed his hand through the thick brown hair pulling the head toward his. His delicate lips met Jerbo’s full lips and they both pressed tighter.  
Jerbo pulled away panting, face flushed. “Wow,” he breathed out.  
“First kiss?” Edric said, with a smirk.  
“Umm…,” Jerbo stammered, face flushed, gripping his own chin awkwardly in contemplative panic. “Well, personally I didn’t have an illusory boyfriend to practice on.” His face shifted to an awkward smirk.  
Edric paused, smile fading but quickly replaced by an even bigger grin “You do have some thorns. I like,” he said. He leaned in towards Jerbo, but the tall brunette still had his pronounced chin resting in his hand. Ed looked into Jerbo’s brown eyes and began to lick the long scarred fingers.   
Jerbo began to breath deeply and his eyes half shut. “I didn’t know this is what you meant when you said you liked my fingers. But I guess in retrospect I shouldn’t be surprised.”  
“Heeh Ij cam bee comlicateb,” Edric said over Jerbo’s fingers. Then pulling back,” I can appreciate your fingers as a representation of your drive and aloof transparent nature, while also physically.” He stuck the fingers back in his mouth.  
“I guess I’m not the only strange complicated one,” laughed Jerbo.  
“Looss like wewe im goob compamy then,” said Edric, not bothering to stop this time.  
Jerbo ran his hand through Edric’s dark green hair. “Good Company,” he repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading this far!
> 
> Please feel free to comment I'll respond.
> 
> I know there's a lot going on in this chapter, so it's a touch rough.
> 
> I was afraid I was going too slow in the previous chapters, and now i worry I went too fast, But then somtimes friendship stems from romance insted of the other way around. but let me know if you think it works.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think.
> 
> A work in progress.


End file.
